Between 40,000 and 200,000 workers will lose their jobs this year even as the government expects continued growth amid the worsening impact of the global financial crisis, an official of the planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.

The unemployment rate will nonetheless remain single-digit, said Dennis Arroyo, NEDA director for policy and planning.

NEDA data show an October 2008 unemployment rate of 6.8 percent.

Arroyo said the labor department was addressing rising unemployment by shifting the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to countries with currently strong demand.

?The Middle East countries are responding to the [global financial] crisis by pump-priming and spending on infrastructure projects,? he said. ?That will boost OFW employment in construction.?

?There are also new markets in Guam, New Zealand and south Australia,? he added.

At a news briefing early this month, the NEDA director general, Economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto said the Philippine economy could create 530,000 jobs this year if it would grow at the same rate as in 2007 and the government would spend efficiently. [Read story]

The economy as measured by the gross domestic product posted a growth of 7.1 percent in 2007, a three-decade high.

?Our breakeven point in employment is about 900,000 or the same number as those entering the job market this year,? Recto said. ?But that is possible only if the economy will grow seven to nine percent like China.?

Recto said that since most of people who could not get jobs were aged 15 to 21 years, they should not be out looking for jobs but acquiring skills in anticipation of an eventual economic upturn.

?The challenge also is to get them back to school ? either in colleges or universities or in technical-vocational schools,? he said. ?The idea is to train them, equip them with skills so when the global rebound comes, it is easier for them to get a job.? Edited by INQUIRER.net